


You Flash Like A Setting Sun

by Babey_blue



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Some angst, chocobro banter, denying feelings, gladio has so much on his shoulders, so does Ignis, struggle with duties vs love, you can tell i find ig really pretty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23924476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babey_blue/pseuds/Babey_blue
Summary: Gladio has one duty. To protect his king with everything he's got, no distractions. But then, one of his friends become a distraction.Ignis is there to help Noct, and if they means he needs to ignore his feelings, then so be it.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 7
Kudos: 45





	You Flash Like A Setting Sun

Gladio had always favoured his duty over his emotions. A distracted shield meant a dead king, that's what he had been taught and that is what he lived by. 

It was difficult, of course, when one of your friends  _ became  _ the distraction. Over the course of this journey, Ignis had become more noticeable to him. Occupying most of his thoughts. Most of the time, he simply watched as the other drove the Regalia, the wind blowing through his hair. The gloves on his beautiful, delicate chef's hands. Gladio had  _ dreamed  _ about those hands running down the planes of his chest, tracing the lines of his tattoo. 

Or he would watch his lips as they spoke or laughed or smiled. He'd never been entranced by lips before, but Ignis' lips were probably the most tempting he'd ever seen. Gladio had known for a long time he had liked men, but not all men looked like Ignis Scientia. 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and suddenly his mind was back in the present, the man occupying his thoughts standing in front of him, a look of fondness on his face.

"Rather interesting book, Gladio?" He asked, a smile on his face. 

He forgot he was reading. 

He shut the book, his face tinted slightly red. "Yeah. Real good." 

"Must be, I've called you to dinner three times." 

Gladio grinned awkwardly. "Sorry Ig." 

"Worry not, I've kept it by the fire to keep warm." 

Ignis walked away and brought him back a bowl of stew. "Can't have the King's shield running low on energy, can we? After all, there's only one Gladio."

He gently clapped Ignis on the shoulder. "You're the best." 

"Just doing my duty."

Gladio wanted to kiss that smile off of his face and run his fingers through that  _ ridiculously  _ attractive hairstyle, messing it up. He almost did, but he stopped.  _ Gods,  _ it took everything in him not to pick the other man off his feet and kiss him so deeply it felt like it was only them in the world. But he restrained himself.

He couldn't afford a distraction. And that's what Ignis had become to him. Wonderful Ignis who he could trust with his life and had been with him through everything, was now the very person that could ruin it with one action.

***

There was very little that could be said in the way Ignis looked at Gladio. A look that carried much affection and respect. 

Ignis knew that Gladio's duty was to the crown, as was his own, but it didn't stop him from  _ wanting.  _ Usually, he was a logical man, but not even logic could stop him from thinking about Gladio's sharp grins and beautiful amber eyes. Couldn't stop him from wondering how it would feel to kiss each of the scars that painted his body. How it would feel to  _ kiss  _ them.

As Noct's advisor, it was his duty to make sure that he was a responsible king and that required Ignis to focus completely on getting him to Altissia alive. Even at the cost of his own feelings. 

"Don't think too hard Ignis, you might start to go grey." Noct said, nudging him lightly. 

It wasn't thinking so much as staring across the fire at one of his oldest friends, but the young king didn't need to know that. 

"One would get grey hairs watching after you and Prompto." 

"Like Gladio isn't a handful!" Came the indignant cry of Prompto. 

"I'm the oldest one here, that makes me the most responsible." Gladio joked with a loud laugh. That laugh made his heart flutter.

"Oh, don't worry, Gladio is a handful as well." 

"Hey!" 

They all laughed and it was small moments around a campfire like this that Ignis held dear. 

Prompto and Noct headed inside the tent, leaving the two of them to clean up. 

"Do you remember being that energetic at their age?" Gladio asked, picking up a few stray bowls. 

"You're only 23, there's no need to act like such an old man Gladio." 

"You're 22 and act older than I do." 

He supposed he did, but he'd always been that way, being responsible instead of being a kid. He'd always made sure that  _ Noct  _ was the priority over himself. Going to his house and picking up after him, cooking dinner for him to make sure he would eat. Ignis never got the chance to learn what it meant to be his own person. 

"Yes, well, someone has to." 

He felt Gladio put his hand over his own. "You deserve to have a life away from Noct." 

Ignis lifted his glasses and gazed into the other man's eyes. "So do you." 

The moment between them was tender, intimate. So it was only a matter of time before Gladio pulled his hand away, leaving his hand cold and with a million emotions running through his body. 

***

Gladio figured that running off after Ravus kicked his ass was necessary. He needed to get stronger in order to protect his friends. To protect his king, he couldn't-  _ wouldn't-  _ half ass this job that his father trained him for. 

His father had been  _ everything  _ to him. Clarus Amicitia was the perfect example of a shield. He was what Gladio wanted to be. And so far, he had failed at that. That's why he was here, to get better. He wanted to make sure that not only Noct, but Ignis was protected. 

The longer he was away, the more he thought about what he felt for the advisor. He loved Ignis, sure, but he didn't think it would feel as intense as it did. And he had to wonder, how long had he felt like this? How long had he been pining like a girl from one of his books for one of his closest friends? 

Now that he was headed back to his friends, his newfound strength in hand, he felt like he had the answers to most everything  _ except  _ this. 

Could he still be in love and protect Noct? Or would he drop everything to protect Ignis when it came down to it? He didn't want to think about what he would do if he told him how he felt. 

Would Ignis even feel the same? Or would he just create an unneeded rift between them, potentially harming Noct? 

Gladio had never thought this much about his feelings, and now he wished he never had. 

When he got back to them, the first thing they all did was comment on his scars, and even Ignis' gaze lingered on them for a moment longer. 

"You've become quite reckless Gladio." He had said, long after Prompto and Noct had headed off to sleep. 

"I've got to do what I need to-" 

"Protect Noct. Yes, I know. I just wish you to be careful." 

Ignis was standing in front of him now, hand tracing the scar on his chest, making Gladio's heart stutter.

"Did it hurt?"

He nodded, breath caught in his throat. Not that he trusted himself to speak at the moment anyways. 

"Speak to me, please." 

"I don't know what you want me to say." 

"Anything to tell me that you're alright." 

It was at this point that Gladio knew why Ignis was acting this way. The worry and the stress had piled up on his shoulders and he wouldn't rest until the other  _ knew  _ he was alright.

So, it was with this thought in his head that he tilted Ignis' chin up and kissed him softly. 

His green, beautiful eyes widened for just a millisecond before he kissed back. It was like he was 16 years old again, kissing a girl for the first time, nervous and frantic and emotional. 

It wasn't as much of a mistake as he thought it would be. 


End file.
